Our program featured analysis and commentary from Coleen Klasmeier of the Sidley Austin law firm and WLF’s Chief Counsel, Richard Samp. Coleen and Rich make reference to a Powerpoint slide deck, which due to a technical problem wasn’t available to viewers during the program. The slide deck can be downloaded here.

For her presentation, Coleen coined the term “Sorrellonia” because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit two-judge majority in Caronia became the first court to fully apply the holding and rationale of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2011 Sorrell v. IMS Health opinion.

Coleen’s and Rich’s presentations drew upon their combined years of experience in dealing with FDA’s application of its off-label speech restrictions and the Justice Department’s prosecution of cases where criminal violations of those rules allegedly occurred.

While they both saw great promise in the opinion for greater freedom in the exchange of critical medical information, they also offered firm notes of caution that the ruling not be interpreted as a green light for businesses’ promotion of off-label uses. Great peril still exists in this area they warned, a fact that is all the more apparent today with the announcement of another nearly $1 billion Justice Department settlement with a pharmaceutical company.